There is a restaurant and cafeteria in the harbour, well known for seafood.

There is a restaurant and cafeteria in the harbour, well known for seafood.

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==Stay safe==

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===Hazards===

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Monofilament fishing line. Some with complete with hook, sinker, bait and fisherman on the harbour wall. Nearby boat traffic. Possibility of Great white sharks in the area.

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This is a commecial fishing harbour but boats entering and leaving are usually on their way to or from fishing grounds, and do not usually spend any time in the diving area to the south east of the harbour. Recreational anglers commonly fish from the harbour wall and divers must keep a lookout for fishing lines. Sinkers and other fishing tackle are frequently found on the bottom. At night this is a popular squid-jigging site.

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===Skills===

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No special skills are required. This is a popular training area for commercial and scientific divers.

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===Equipment===

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If you intend to go far from the wall a compass and SMB are recommended to help avoid the traffic zone at the harbour mouth, and to alert boats to your presence and position.

==See==

==See==

Line 76:

Line 64:

===Photography===

===Photography===

Macro photography is all that is worth trying at this site.

Macro photography is all that is worth trying at this site.

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===Suggested Routes===

===Suggested Routes===

Line 82:

Line 69:

#Entry at rocks at start of wall: dive along base of wall, with occasional short excursions up wall and to side over reef until about half way along wall. Head out about square to wall along the top of the low reef until you reach the pebble zone, see if you can spot any Cerianthids, then continue to the edge of the sand and along this edge until it turns to the left. Then make your way across the reef more or less North magnetic until back at the wall close to the harbour mouth. Follow the wall back to the entry point, and exit.

#Entry at rocks at start of wall: dive along base of wall, with occasional short excursions up wall and to side over reef until about half way along wall. Head out about square to wall along the top of the low reef until you reach the pebble zone, see if you can spot any Cerianthids, then continue to the edge of the sand and along this edge until it turns to the left. Then make your way across the reef more or less North magnetic until back at the wall close to the harbour mouth. Follow the wall back to the entry point, and exit.

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===Gallery===

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==Stay safe==

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<!--A few images to show the ambience of the site, and any that may explain the access or identify the site-->

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===Hazards===

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[[Image:Scenic photo from site.jpg|thumb]]

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Monofilament fishing line. Some with complete with hook, sinker, bait and fisherman on the harbour wall. Nearby boat traffic. Possibility of Great white sharks in the area.

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(description)

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'''Views of the site from the shore.'''

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This is a commecial fishing harbour but boats entering and leaving are usually on their way to or from fishing grounds, and do not usually spend any time in the diving area to the south east of the harbour. Recreational anglers commonly fish from the harbour wall and divers must keep a lookout for fishing lines. Sinkers and other fishing tackle are frequently found on the bottom. At night this is a popular squid-jigging site.

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[[Image:(views of the site and facilities)|thumb]]

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===Skills===

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(description)

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No special skills are required. This is a popular training area for commercial and scientific divers.

−

[[Image:(views of the entry point)|thumb]]

+

===Equipment===

−

(description)

+

If you intend to go far from the wall a compass and SMB are recommended to help avoid the traffic zone at the harbour mouth, and to alert boats to your presence and position.

Back to [[Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay]]

Back to [[Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay]]

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{{usabletopic}}

Revision as of 13:45, 6 September 2009

The dive site Kalk Bay Harbour Wall is a shoreline rocky reef and artificial structure in the Kalk Bay area on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula, part of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

The site is mostly used for commercial diver training and collecting lead sinkers and other fishing gear lost from the harbour wall.

Get in

Access

Normally done as a shore dive.

Permission is required from the harbour master to dive from the wall, which is the usual arrangement for commercial diver training, as a feature of the site is the 3m jump entry and ladder exit. For this purpose parking may be arranged on the breakwater at the top of the ladder, which is about half way alonh the wall. It is recommended that a handrope be attached to a vehicle to aid divers climbing over the edge, as there are not very good handholds on top of the wall beyond the top of the ladder.

Alternative access is from the shoreline rocks outside the harbour, which is in any case a far easier exit. This entry point is at the rocky shore at the end of the harbour wall just below the restaurant. A rock about 8m from the wall has convenient ledges for entry and exit at low tide.

Position

S34°07.787’ E018°26.967' (Shore entry and exit point at south
west end of wall)

The site is to the east of the breakwater wall of the Kalk Bay Harbour

This site is in a Marine Protected Area (2009). A permit is required.

Understand

Name

The site "Kalk Bay Harbour Wall" is off and near the harbour wall at the small commercial fishing harbour at Kalk Bay.

Depth

Maximum depth is approximately 9 to 10m on the sand depending on the tide, and is not much shallower over the reef areas.

Visibility

Visibility is seldom better than 3m.

Topography

Vertical faced concrete harbour breakwater wall with low profile rocky reef at the base, and patches of pebble and sand at about 8 to 9m depth, There are several concrete blocks and pieces of steel rail near the wall and other garbage including tangled fishing line, old lures, and usually quite a lot of sinkers. The reef extends to about 100m from the wall.

Geology:
Ordovician sandstone , probably of the Peninsula formation, or possibly the underlying Graafwater formation. Strike is about north-west/south-east, more or less perpendicular to the wall, and dip is quite shallow. about 5° to 10°, to the south west.

Conditions

Avoid strong south easterly winds and large swell.
The site is usually at it's best in winter but there are also occasional opportunities during the rest of the year

A large swell will make exit tricky. If this appears to be too hazardous, it is possible to swim round into the harbour, where there are ladders and a beach, but this should be considered an emergency option, and the risk of injury by a boat is greatly increased. Keep as close to the wall as possible, and exercise due caution when surfacing. Boat crews will not normally be expecting divers in the water.

Facilities

If diving from the shore entry below the restaurant: There is a large gravel parking lot at the entrance to the harbour between the railway line and the harbour buildings: S34:07.780' E018:26.931', clearly visible in the aerial view. Turn left over the level crossing and then right into the parking area. The far end near the buildings is most convenient.

If diving from the breakwater wall: Either arrange to park on the breakwater, which may require getting the chain unlocked, or park in the tarred lower parking lot and carry your kit along the wall.

Public toilets are provided. They are usually open and may be clean.
There is a restaurant and cafeteria in the harbour, well known for seafood.

See

Marine life

Wall moderately encrusted, no strong zonation. Reef fairly sparsely encrusted, largely encrusting corallines and urchins. Large shoals of juvenile fish in season, mainly Strepies and Blacktail, but also quite a few Hottentot. Anglers jig for Chokka (squid) from the wall at night.

Photography

Macro photography is all that is worth trying at this site.

Suggested Routes

Entry from the wall by jumping in (about 3m). Exit can be by the ladder on the wall, but it can be a tricky climb, particularly at the top, as the ladder stops slightly short of the top of the wall and the handholds are not abundant. Study the top of the ladder before entry to avoid embarrassment on exit. You may find it more convenient to use a rope to lift your equipment if you are not sufficiently fit and agile to climb a vertical ladder in full kit while holding your fins.

Entry at rocks at start of wall: dive along base of wall, with occasional short excursions up wall and to side over reef until about half way along wall. Head out about square to wall along the top of the low reef until you reach the pebble zone, see if you can spot any Cerianthids, then continue to the edge of the sand and along this edge until it turns to the left. Then make your way across the reef more or less North magnetic until back at the wall close to the harbour mouth. Follow the wall back to the entry point, and exit.

Stay safe

Hazards

Monofilament fishing line. Some with complete with hook, sinker, bait and fisherman on the harbour wall. Nearby boat traffic. Possibility of Great white sharks in the area.

This is a commecial fishing harbour but boats entering and leaving are usually on their way to or from fishing grounds, and do not usually spend any time in the diving area to the south east of the harbour. Recreational anglers commonly fish from the harbour wall and divers must keep a lookout for fishing lines. Sinkers and other fishing tackle are frequently found on the bottom. At night this is a popular squid-jigging site.

Skills

No special skills are required. This is a popular training area for commercial and scientific divers.

Equipment

If you intend to go far from the wall a compass and SMB are recommended to help avoid the traffic zone at the harbour mouth, and to alert boats to your presence and position.